Saving electricity

   / Saving electricity #131  
One of the fires was dues to the wires inside the meter socket. So I think they didnt check them properly One of the sockets looked to me to be ancient. Id hope they would change out the meter socket if they were outdated. My power company is responsable to the meter only.I think this is where they could be in trouble if its int eh socket itslef.

Mine tried to pull that "power company is responsable to the meter only" on me after the hurricanes we had but when they PUT THEIR meter on it and THEY lock what they call your box with THEIR lock and tell you they will fine you for opening it it sure makes it hard for you to be responsible. We had a few loud conversations about it before they figured they could not BS me
 
   / Saving electricity
  • Thread Starter
#132  
Make homeowners believe that they are responsible for maintaining something they can't legally access.

Tell The Big Lie often enough, and it becomes The Truth.

Yeah, these guys are good.

D.
 
   / Saving electricity #134  
Mine tried to pull that "power company is responsable to the meter only" on me after the hurricanes we had but when they PUT THEIR meter on it and THEY lock what they call your box with THEIR lock and tell you they will fine you for opening it it sure makes it hard for you to be responsible. We had a few loud conversations about it before they figured they could not BS me

The power company once came out and put a lock on my meter box. I cut the lock off the same day the meter reader was coming by. They argued with me that I can't do that. I said. Oh yeah? Who bought and paid for this meter box? Not you.

I told them. Are you gonna be responsible if there's a short in my main panel on the main lugs and I can't pull the stupid meter to cut power off and it causes the house fire? Are you gonna pay for the damages to my house?

That shut them up. And they never did put another lock on my meter box. I told them, it will do you no good to place anymore locks on that box as I will just cut them off.

I don't take no bs from them. It's my meter box, I paid for and installed it. Therefore I own it. If they want to start maintaining my meter box, and the wires inside it. Then and only then can they put a lock on it.

I had to pull a meter when I was 10 years old. It was on my Grandmas house, the main lugs in the inside load center had worked loose and was arcing and smoking. We called the power company. They said they can't get out for at least an hour.

I couldn't wait that long. I have watched a meter being pulled before and can do it safely. My dad doubted me and was trying to keep me from doing it. I knew how dangerous it was and still know how dangerous it can be to pull a meter. But I made my way up there and pulled it out safely.

Chad
 
   / Saving electricity #135  
Pulling the meter isn't dangerous...its the exposed tabs that remain after the meter is removed thats dangerous. Locking the meters became fashionable years ago when people used to pull their meters and put them in upside down to spin them backwards.

the cheaters ruin it for everybody.

As for the legality of the electrical companies to lock their meter sockets......YUP. And they can have you arrested for removal of the lock and meter if they really pushed for it. especially if caught stealing free power.

My meter just has the little thin wire and security tab that can easily be removed in an emergency. I have seen heavy banded locks installed on many meters in the past....usually on houses with payment issues and/or vandalism issues.
 
   / Saving electricity
  • Thread Starter
#136  
Hey Mace - I resemble that remark ! :thumbsup:

If a car manufacturer padlocked the hood of your car, how much warranty coverage do you think you'd end up with ?

Chucko raised an excellent point, that the rest of us sheeple (me included) need to be mindful of.

Rgds, D.
 
   / Saving electricity #137  
The lock here are not really locks but the same thin wire that GRSTHEGREAT talks about but we get fined for cutting them
in my case surges from the first storm cased (we had three Storms that year almost back to back)the meter to sort and burn up. When the power came back on for two weeks before the next storm we got a $500 bill for two weeks
I protested they pulled the meter you could see it burnt up...I took pics of it good thing too because they said they would test it but failed to produce a test report proving it worked as they said it did
They calmed it was my box that I failed to maintain.. I replaced the box (we did not have power) this was after storm 3 .. I could see the lines in the road no chance of it coming on
No I did not get a permit as none were required by the county as part of the storm clean up
The power co raised heck that I did it ....come on it's three wires in and three out simple monkey work AND they check it when they put the new meter in anyhow
They tried to report me to the county and had someone from the power company and the county meet me.
I explained to the county guy that it was right he looked at me and agreed the power guy said the was no permit and I asked if I needed to get one then they needed them for each and every job they were doing as part of the storm repair
Luckly the county guy knew they were trying to pull a fast one and looked at the power guy and said if I were you and you did not have permit for EVERY job in my county I would not push Mr Evans to far on this... Then it took me talking to GOD to get them to remove the $500 charge for two weeks of power. I am telling you they were childish about it using terms like ""ha ha we got you now no permits no power"

This was a very long story shortened a whole lot
 
   / Saving electricity #138  
Hey Mace - I resemble that remark ! :thumbsup:

If a car manufacturer padlocked the hood of your car, how much warranty coverage do you think you'd end up with ?

Chucko raised an excellent point, that the rest of us sheeple (me included) need to be mindful of.

Rgds, D.

In order for your analogical argument to hold true, the two things must be similar in the relevant respects. They aren't. The engine compartment is clearly designed to be accessible by the car owners while meter boxes are just the opposite, hence your argument is invalid.

grsthegreat has explained why meter boxes, splitter boxes, etc can and are sealed.

When I was working for the provincial electrical utility, meter seals were considered a "Big Thing", as they still are. It was a condition of service that the customer agreed to when they applied for electrical service that the power corporation had the right to seal certain equipment. It was also spelled out in writing who owned what equipment.
 
   / Saving electricity
  • Thread Starter
#139  
I've followed plenty of your posts Mace, I know you are a bright guy. I'd have trouble believing that you have difficulty following the general point I was making - there is not much logic involved with making someone solely responsible for something they can't physically access.

I could make a good safety argument for padlocking the hood of a car. I'll leave it as self evident that the average goober could proficiently injure himself and/or other people at least as well under the hood of a car, as compared to an open meter base.

What I haven't mentioned before now is that my father had a high level technical role in electrical utilities all his working life, I've worked for them myself, and have had recent insider business exposure to the post de-regulation electrical utility environment in Ontario. Where we slid to recently, and where we are heading, are not pretty. Perhaps you are fortunate enough to have a more benign environment in Saskabush.

I have a strong appreciation for the integrity and ethics that used to apply to the electrical industry here in Ontario, and I do fully understand the legal and safety issues at play here.

In all seriousness (I want to know, I'm not playing bat-the-debate-ball here), I do have a couple of questions for you:

1) In your jurisdiction, what is the prescribed procedure for getting your meter base inspected ?

1a) Who does what ? (Utility vs. electrical contractor vs. homeowner)

2) What are the costs involved (Utility fees, typ. contractor charge).

3) If your meter base catches fire, what is an insurance companies stance on this ?

4) If the utility company is the only entity that is allowed to remove a meter, why is there no legal, professional, or ethical requirement for the utility to inspect the meter base ?

Gotta run to another site now, as I'm hearing that tinfoil is carcinogenic.....

(I'm only using a bit of humour to sign-off here, in good spirits. Questions 1-4 above are asked in all seriousness).

Rgds, D.
 
   / Saving electricity #140  
1) In your jurisdiction, what is the prescribed procedure for getting your meter base inspected ?
Phone in and ask to make an appointment to meet a District Operator on site to pull the meter.
1a) Who does what ? (Utility vs. electrical contractor vs. homeowner)
The only thing possible to do as a maintenance issue inside a meter box is check the connections and do a visual check to make sure nothing is askew such as a broken standoff insulator or (for example) that the cables are getting pulled down and are starting to cut through the insulation where they enter the box from an underground service. You can try to tighten the connectors if you are steady and don't flail around and run your tool into the hot lugs and ground at the same time and cause damage to the equipment and you don't electrocute yourself but I would do it for the customer because I was experienced doing hot work and they wouldn't be and I expect that would be what all the District Staff everywhere would do for the same reason. I know all the D.O.s I worked with would.
2) What are the costs involved (Utility fees, typ. contractor charge).
Here in Saskatchewan, we would eat the costs. No charge to the customer.
3) If your meter base catches fire, what is an insurance companies stance on this ?
You would have to make an inquire to the insurance companies for that answer, I can't speak about their policies.

I have never seen a meter box catch on fire per se. I've seen them short out so bad they blew the meter off the meter box and out of the retaining ring half way to the back fence. This would be because of high heat from a bad connection causing the insulation to outgas and fill the meter box up with highly combustible gases. A bad connection usually arcs and that arc ingites the gases and ka-boom. I've seen them arc and smoke inside so bad they are totally covered internally with soot. That makes them tough to clean adequately enough to prevent tracking (shorting to ground) but usually there is so much other damage that it requires replacement of parts and since parts for older boxes are usually non existent that means a new meter box that meets present day code.
4) If the utility company is the only entity that is allowed to remove a meter, why is there no legal, professional, or ethical requirement for the utility to inspect the meter base ?
When you compare the number of meters in service and the number of years they have been in service to the number of times a meter box gives problems it is not cost effective to inspect them. Don't forget, the meter boxes are designed to contain the problems that can happen, which they do very well. I have never seen one instance, nor heard of any, where any damage happened to anything outside of the meter box. I have removed and replaced literally thousands of meters over the years (for testing purposes and replacement of defective meters) and I've only seen a hand full of those meter boxes that had issues and they were repaired or replaced as the case may be. The most common trouble was the female connectors overheating and losing their spring grip on the meters male tabs. The second most was the connector itself failing for varied reasons. This would result in flickering lights, etc, and customers would call us to check it out and of course the first thing we would do is inspect the meter box, so we would find the boxes that were actually having issues. Meter boxes just do not give very much trouble and when they do, by my experience, they just do not cause damage that customers have to worry about, ergo inspections are really a moot issue.

I'd say you have much more to worry about with problems in your house's wiring. When was the last time you checked every connection in every switch box, receptical box, junction box and breaker panel plus all the connections internally in your appliances such as your electric stove, washer, electric dryer, etc? I suspect you have a real chance of your house burning down because of issues with those items.
Gotta run to another site now, as I'm hearing that tinfoil is carcinogenic.....

(I'm only using a bit of humour to sign-off here, in good spirits. Questions 1-4 above are asked in all seriousness).

Rgds, D.
 

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